MANY women opt for Botox for a variety of reasons – including getting rid of wrinkles or to prevent sweating.
But one 25-year-old who decided to get the beauty treatment in a bid to slim down her face has told how it made her age a decade in just two months.
In a clip posted to TikTok (@leahbbeth), Leah begins: “My face has aged years in the past couple of months, and I finally figured out why.”
Pointing to the area around her nose and chin, she says: “Specifically this area…the worst part about my face is my mouth, the areas around it and how it moves.”
Leah notes that at first, she put it down to the fact she’d just turned 25 and that collagen production was going down, but she was wrong.
“Before I get into the negatives, I do want to say that the treatment itself – the face slimming aspect of it – did work really well,” she says.
However, the beauty fan then urges her social media followers to watch her smile and points out that her left-hand side looks “25,” while her right-hand side is more “35.”
Showing off both sides to draw a clear comparison, she shows what happens when she smiles on her left-hand side and says: “This is my normal, natural smile line.
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“No dimpling for no wrinkling.”
Moving onto the right side, she says: “This line didn’t do this before.
“I can’t pull this side of my smile back, it’s like, pinned.
“It’s created this new wrinkle here that I’ve never had.”
She goes on to say that her plan of action is to let the Botox wear off completely and possibly have some filler injected into the new wrinkle.
Leah captioned the post: “Masseter Botox made me look 10 years older in just 2 months! I’ve been really struggling with my self image since September and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“I knew my face looked significantly older and I’ve just realised why my face and smile are drooping on the left side due to lack of support, and it’s causing deep premature wrinkles!
“I know some people have fantastic results with this procedure but be so careful.
“I don’t know if this is down to my genetic makeup and how my facial muscles move or due to the amount of product and/ or placement but it’s been a horrible side effect to deal with and I hope it doesn’t happen to you.”
In response to the video, a skincare whizz shared her insight and explains: “So I want to answer this for this girl and also for people who may be in the same situation or maybe thinking about getting Masseter Botox.
“First of all, when I say Botox, I actually mean botulinum toxin.
“Botox is a brand…there are many other brands.
“Just tip number one – if you do have an overdeveloped masseter muscle which is making your face look quite square, usually there is a reason for that.
“There may be a reason that is a pathological reason, so it’s always prudent to go and get a check from your dentist and discuss your bite.
“Because sometimes people have what’s called a parafunction and an issue with how they are biting together, which can lead to grinding and clenching of the jaw.
“Dental issue needs to be addressed first before you consider it getting this done.”
The skincare pro then goes on to discuss why Leah may have got the results that she did.
“There is a muscle called the risorius, which actually is in proximity to the masseter,” she explains.
“And if that is accidentally not injected, but the toxin diffuses into it, it can actually stop the mouth pulling out.
“So much so when you smile, you can smile on one side, but the other side might not extend as much.”
She goes on to note how that changes to the tissue dynamics can alter the appearance of your face when you smile.
Pointing to the bottom half of her face at the side of her mouth, she continues: “The second thing is that if you have a masseter muscle that’s bulky, you have volume in your face here.
“So what do you think is going to happen if you reduce that volume down? What’s going to happen to the overlying tissue structures?
“They’re going to fall forward, which may be the reason why she’s finding that her nasalibial fold is a bit deeper, and in the tissue here will be bunching up against the mandibular ligament.”
The skincare whizz concludes by pointing out that it can take around 9 months for the volume deficit of the muscle to bulk back up, so she recommends Leah steer clear of filler in the meantime.
